Acetylene lighting apparatus



L. VlALET-CHABRAND.

ACETYLENE LIGHTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION F|LED MAY 1, 1919.

Patented Mar. 28, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET '1.

1512/8723 zucz'mwaza-czazmmz L. VlALET-CHABRAND.

ACETYLENE LIGHTING APPARATUS.

- APPLICATION FILED IIIAY 1, i919. 1,41 1 ,141 Patented Mar. 28, 1922.

2 $HEETSS'HEET 2.

Zucz' en Wi'aZei" 672427'afld LUcIEN vIALET-GflABRAN'D, or LA. CIOTAT, FRANCE.

ACETYLENE LIGHTING APPARATUS. 7

Application filed May 1,

To all whom it'may concern:

Be it known that I, LUGIEN VIALEr-GHA-- BRAND, a citizen of the Republic of France, residing at 'La Ciotat, Bouches-du-Rhone Department, in the" 1 Republic of France,

. have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Acetylene Lighting Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention has for its object an apparatus which has received the name of Aquatic torch because it can only act in water.

A form of construction thereof is shown in the appended drawing by way of example.

Fig. 1 is a an axial vertical section of the apparatus.

Fig. 2 is an elevation thereof.

Fig. 3-is a plan of a 'phosphide of calcium basket. 1

Fig. 4: is a vertical section of said basket.

This apparatus'comprises three distinct chambers 1, 2 and 3 the chamber 1 con taining carbide of calcium, 2 phosphide of calcium, and 3 which is watertightserving to float the apparatus.

The charge of carbide, which is the heaviest, serves to produce, the acetylene gas which rises through a tube 4 and passes through one or more orifices 5 of a tubefi, the water reaches the carbide through a tube 7 and its lateral orifices. The water ascends to the phosphide through the orifice 9 of a tube 8, the phosphuretted hydrogen gas escapes from the receptacle 2 through the orifice 10 and produces a flame which ignites spontaneously on contact with air. The phosphide therefore produces the ignition of the jet of acetylene and the weights of the two substances are in proportion with the duration of lighting which it is desired to obtain.

It is to be noted that in the apparatus the two substances are acted on separately and that the acetylene gas is intentionally produced at a much greater pressure than that of the phosphorated hydrogen gas, for the purpose of obtaining an elongated and very luminous flame. The water reaches the'carbide by rising in the tube 7 through its lower orifice 11 and passing out laterally through its lateral orifices.

The operation which has just been described, takes place when the apparatus is Specification oi Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 28, 1922. 1919. Serial No. 293,990.

immersed in the water and the upper orifices 5 and 10 together with the lower ones 9 and 11 are free, but it must be noted that when the apparatus is not in use the four orifices are covered by'two soldered strips 12 and 13 which are successively removed by hand or automatically only at the mo ment of using the apparatus. These strips are carefully soldered at 'their edges and also transversely,- but just sufficiently to cover the orifices to be screened and so as to be removable by application of sufli'eient force. Claws 14 with pins 15 fix the ends of said strips with a view to preventing-their removal by a too slight effort resulting from a wrong operation. The free ends of said strips are provided with rings 16 and 17. he torch al'socarries a collar 18 provided with a ring 19. This latter ring serves to suspend the torch and further to connect 1t by means of a cable 19, which may be 4- to 5 metres long, to the salvage device which it is to illuminate;

To the rings 16 and 17 are secured the ends of two cables 16 and 17 of unequal lengths, the other ends of which are attached to a suitable point of the ship. The salvage device and the torch being hooked together on board, it is understood that at the moment when both are thrown into the water the salvage device, after a sufiicient fall, strains the cord which connects it--to the torch and draws'the latter after it while tearing off in succession the two strips 1-2 and 13 by means of the two ropes which connect t In on board, this succession of removals results from the fact that the shorter rope is first stretched and that it is only after the removal of the corresponding strip thatthe rope attached to the sec- 0nd strip is strained, which strip is then re moved in its turn.

In the preceding description it has been described that the water reaches the carbide through the interior of the tube 7 and the phosphide through the end of the tube 8.

The tube 7 is provided with holes so that the carbide cannot penetrate therein to obstruct it. In proportion to the decomposition of the carbide starting from the bottom, the

water rises in the tube 7 in order to flow out over the upper parts and continue the operation, which would not take'place if the water penetrated simply through the orifice 11 which the carbide would obstruct at the a series of baskets 23, a1,

' tainer,

end of a certain time, especially when the apparatus contains a considerable weight of carbide. The tube 7 therefore constitutesa rising column always free and its employment is of great practical importance. as is also the partitioning of the carbide by perforateddisks 20 between which this sub stance is placed in order to prevent the accumulation and consequently over-production of gas during working.

In the receptacle 2 the phosphide is also dividedinto sections in order to aroid the accumulation and over-production during wetting; 21 from which the water rises in the perforated tube 22 which always provides a tree passage; the water flows out through the lateral orificesof said tube 22 and acts on the phosphide' of calcium. which is placed. in

25,- 26, with perforated wallsarranged one below another.

The lowest basket 23 is smaller than the others and the load. which it contains is intended to supply very rapidly at suitable amount of phosphorated hydrogen as soon as the water arrives from the tube 8 and the chamber 21 into'the bottom of the receptacle 2, in order to ensure the immediate lighting of the acetylene.

27 designates partitions fixed in the basket 23 to support the basket placed above.

28 designates a counterweightsecured to the bottom of the receptacle 1 as ballast. v

Claims:

1. In a. floating acetylene lighting apparatus, the combination of a calcium carbide container,

tainer situated above the former, floating means surrounding the second container.

two water inlet passages starting from the bottom of the firstcontainer, one of which passes through the first container, the secondof which is perforated and extends into the! first container,rthe second passage being concentric to the first. V

2 In a floating acetylene lighting apparatus, the combination of a calcium carbide container, a calcium phosphide confioating means, water inlet passages, two perforated tubes disposed respectively at the centers of these two containers, and perforated disks surround ng the said tubes to prevent the-caking or settling ofthe calcium carbide and the calcium phosphide.

3. An acetylene lighting apparatus comthe tube 8 ends in a tree chamber an d serving a calcium phosphide con prising a carbide of calcium receptacle, a

ing through the first named pipe, issuing .at'

the bottom in the centre of the orifice of said first pipe and extending upwards into the bottom of the said phosphide of calcium receptacle an acetylene outlet pipe extending from the top of the first receptacle to the top of the second receptacle, and a'phosphon. ated hydrogen outlet orifice in the top of the second receptacle beside the" orifice of the said acetylene outlet pipe.

a. An acetylene lighting apparatus comprising a carbide of calcium receptacle, a phosplnde of calcium receptacle fixed above the former, a water inlet-pipe startingirom the bottom of the. first receptacle, a water inlet-pipe passing through: the first named pipe to feed the said upper phosphide of calcium receptacle, a gas outlet-pipe extending upwards from the top of the first receptacle, a gas outlet-orifice in'the' top of the second receptacle near the orifice-of thesaid outlet pi'pe, two perforated tubes placed at the centre of the two receptacles respectively,

and perforated annular partitions around the said tubes to divide the mass of carbide of phosphide of calcium respectively.

5. In a floating. acetylene lighting apparatus, a receptacle ,for calcium phosphide, a float surrounding said receptacle and extending to the bottom of the latter, a receptacle for calcium carbide extending down from the bottom oi said float and having a water inlet, an acetylene gastube extending fromthe carbide receptacle toithe top of the phosphido receptacle and: having an. outet above the phosphide receptacle, the latter having a gas outlet at its top and a water inletat its bottom, said float being of relatively great horizontal extent so thatv it normally retains the greater part of the phosphide contalner above the level of water on which the float rides. I

In testimony, that I claim the: foregoing as myinvention I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LUOIEN vmLE'r-oHABRAnni V Witnesses: V 1 i i V E. Lacomr'rnn A. MACEARLANE. 

